Defiant is a satisfying conclusion to the Skyward Series. Honestly, I was apprehensive when I started this book; I didn’t connect with the previous two books as much as I hoped. Fortunately, Defiant was excellent. It’s tricky to define precisely what made this book so good. Part of it is the emphasis on trusting others and working together. Characters carry forward lessons they learned earlier in the series, both on and off the page. Because of this, characters exhibit significant overall growth, and the complete character arcs are excellent. While Sanderson threw in a few new elements, they made the story exciting without bogging it down. The entire story is cohesive and well-structured. The ending was very satisfying, and everything was well-wrapped up. My one complaint is the romance. It remains a subplot, but the romance in this series has always felt a little clunky and unnecessary to me. Nevertheless, Defiant is a must-read if you’ve read the previous books in the series.

As a side note, there is a collection of novellas taking place between Cytonic (the third book) and this book. I didn’t read those novellas before reading this book. While there are several references to events occurring in those novellas, I don’t think skipping them detracted from my reading experience. Although it’s probably better to read them, it isn’t necessary.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 1 religious exclamation; 16 mild obscenities; 1 derogatory name.

Violence/Gore: The plot largely involves a war, so battles and violence are frequently discussed; report of deaths, no detail; battle results in reported deaths, many civilian casualties, no detail; several characters are shot and killed; a joke about making sculptures using the body parts of conquered enemies; 6 verbal threats; character imagines a loved one dead, minor detail; mention of a kid writing a note using rat blood; a character briefly imagines seriously injuring another; an adult character is kidnapped; brief scene of hand-to-hand combat, about 4 pages; a few violent deaths, limited detail; a character is drugged; a character is imprisoned; a brief fight; a few instances where a character is stunned with a weapon; two instances where characters kill a sentient alien creature as an example; characters duel in starships; extended spaceship battle, reported deaths.

Sex/Nudity: Two characters are in a romantic relationship; a few instances where characters hold hands or kiss; characters have a dinner date; characters hug; an extended scene where a female sits on a male character’s lap, they kiss deeply, she gives him a back massage, he gives her character a back massage and she unhooks her bra strap while remaining fully clothed; sexual reference; mention of a non-human character having multiple wives.

Mature Subject Matter:

Post-traumatic stress disorder; grief; trauma; panic attacks; death of a family member; war.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

None